Ventilation Air Methane Abatement System Review

33 Pages·2010·1.08 MB·English

by  Deborah Kosmack

Ventilation Air Methane
Abatement System Review
Pennsylvania Climate Change Advisory Committee
Steven Winberg
Vice President
CONSOL Energy Research & Development
May 20, 2010
Outline
Coal Mine Methane Emissions

Project Rational


CONSOL field trial at Windsor Mine


Plan to implement technology at


Enlow Fork Mine

Questions

Coal Mine Methane Emissions
Global CMM (2000)
377 million metric tonne CO2e

(938.5 bcf methane)
Source: Global Anthropogenic Emissions of Non-CO2 Greenhouse Gases 1990 - 2020
2006 US CMM Emissions
(Billion Cubic Feet)
Source: U.S. Emissions Inventory, 1998 - 2006
2006 US CMM Emissions
Methane MM tonne CO2
(bcf) equivalent
Total 157.9 63.4
Underground Emissions 117.58 47.2
Surface Emissions 40.32 16.2
12.3%
2006 Pennsylvania CMM Emissions
Methane MM tonne CO2
(bcf) equivalent
Accounts for 6
underground longwall
mines in PA or 42.8 tons
19.38 7.78
out of 64.5 tons of
bituminous coal
production in PA
Project Rational
CONSOL Methane Emissions
CONSOL’s greenhouse gas footprint is mostly

methane.

Ventilation air methane (VAM) represented 23.1 bcf

of the 25.5 bcf (91%) of methane emitted by

CONSOL in 2006.
It appears likely that under future U.S. law, coal mine

methane will be eligible as an Offset

The low concentration of methane in ventilation air

(0.3% to 1.5%) means that specialized equipment is

required to capture or use it - regenerative thermal
oxidizer (RTO)
CONSOL Field Trial at Windsor
Mine
First U.S. Field Trial of VAM Oxidation
– CONSOL’s Windsor Test

Test commercial-size VOCSIDIZER reactor on an

inactive coal mine

Simulate VAM by diluting coal mine methane with air

Test with no impact on an active mine


Verify safety systems


Evaluate O&M requirements and costs


Gain hands-on experience


Observation by MSHA and state agencies


First step for future installation on a mine ventilation fan


Objective to evaluate the technical/economic feasibility


of applying a full-scale system at an underground coal
mi ne